AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Happy Monday! I'm happy because yesterday I got to watch several hours of Season 4 of Ninjago on Cartoon Network's "Lego Day." Episode 40 ("Spellbound") is my all-time favorite Ninjago episode! The parachute scene is epic. And what fangirl of the red ninja doesn't want to cry when Kai's heart is broken by Skylor?
Thank you all for reading and commenting on the last chapter, especially FirstFandomFangirl, MMM, Princess Bunny, lovesgod12, and Naruby7! I was a bit nervous about publishing it, but measuremesky encouraged me to go ahead.
In the chapter below, you'll find that I review some of the events of my first story, The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy. I felt that I needed to provide 1) some background for those of you who haven't yet read it, and 2) a refresh for those of you that did read, because almost two months have gone by since I finished it.
This chapter is therefore longer than usual, so grab a mug of cocoa before you settle in to read! XD
Chapter 5 - Tuesday in Late August
At dusk on a Tuesday evening, just two days after their wedding, Kai and Sam gently swayed back and forth on the porch swing of their cottage, holding each other close after enjoying their first supper in their new home. It was a simple supper of flapjacks and bacon, for Sam was a novice cook, and their brand new pantry was not yet fully stocked.
Today, the cowboy who wore a red kerchief had returned to the range after enjoying the day off yesterday granted to him by Mr. Wu. Tending the cattle today proved to be messy work, thanks to the muddy conditions caused by yesterday's rain. When Kai returned to the cottage this evening, he had to give his horse Flame a bath. Then he rinsed himself off by jumping into the nearby Ninjago River, which lazily flowed just a few dozen yards away from their porch.
Sam spent her day working on turning the new cottage into a cozy home. She knew she still had a long way to go before she reached that goal, but today she found places to keep the thoughtful wedding gifts given to them. Also today, she began to write thank-you notes for the kind gifts.
As the couple relaxed on the porch on this warm summer evening, Sam knew this would be a perfect time for her to reveal to Kai some interesting information she had learned from Mr. Wu before the wedding ceremony two days ago.
This interesting information was the latest in a series of recent interesting events in Sam's life. She definitely could not say Ninjago Town was a boring place. The past month had been a whirlwind ever since she arrived here from the eastern United States to take a job as a saloon girl, in a quest to make a life for herself in which people accepted her for herself and not because of the million dollars she had inherited from her late father, business tycoon Cyrus Borg.
Her first few days in Ninjago Town had gone well. She made friends with the other saloon girls and met a sweet, handsome brown-haired cowboy named Kai. But though she tried to keep her moneyed background a secret, her boss - an unscrupulous wealthy businessman named Morro - discovered her past, and he ended up abducting her, and Kai as well, in order to get his hands on her money.
Morro and his two accomplices whisked the young couple into Skeleton Territory, located along Ninjago's western border and far away from Ninjago Town. One accomplice to the kidnapping was Bansha, an elderly woman whose marksmanship was legendary and whose daughter had been Morro's love interest.
Unfortunately, during the captivity, Morro was able to acquire the heiress' wealth, but the romance between Sam and Kai blossomed. Sam also formed a friendship with Bansha, especially after the septuagenarian suddenly fell ill and the responsibility for her care rested on Sam. Bansha recognized the love between the young woman and the cowboy and regretted her own role in kidnapping them, for Morro had no intention of releasing Sam after he had obtained her money.
The couple was eventually rescued by a posse of their friends, led by Sheriff Lloyd Garmadon. Sheriff Lloyd killed Morro when the villain attempted to murder Kai. Upon the death of the scoundrel, his entire fortune - which at that point included Sam's money - automatically became the possession of Bansha, according to a will found in his office.
Shortly after the group returned to Ninjago Town, Kai proposed marriage to Sam, and they were married one week later, just this past Sunday.
Bansha passed away last Thursday night after her short illness. Sam had learned from Mr. Wu, before the wedding ceremony, that Bansha herself had drawn up a will. At the time the frail woman had made her will, all she thought she owned was a gun, a horse, and a few other items. She never knew she had inherited a fortune, for she lapsed into a pre-death coma before anyone had a chance to tell her.
"Kai?" Sam said quietly as she sat on the porch swing, nestled under his arm with her own arm encircling his waist. She was testing to see if he was awake, for neither of them had said anything in a while. The gentle swaying of the swing on this warm evening made it hard to resist napping.
"Mmm?" Kai responded drowsily, his cheek resting on her golden blonde tresses. His eyes were closed.
"Mr. Wu told me something interesting before the wedding ceremony on Sunday."
"What's that?" Kai asked in a clearer voice, though he still kept his eyes closed.
"Bansha made a will."
"She did?" Kai now opened his eyes. He was sensing that Sam was not telling him this just to make idle conversation.
Even though Bansha had died a rich woman, part of that money was Sam's. However, Sam had few resources left to pursue a claim to it in the courts. Kai had some money to hire lawyers, but not enough. He had wondered to himself if maybe they could borrow funds from Mr. Wu to pay the lawyers. If Bansha willed the money away to yet another person, that would indeed muddy up the process, and they would need even more money to pay the lawyers.
"She named a sole beneficiary," Sam told her new husband.
Kai raised his head and turned to look at her. At least there would only be one beneficiary to deal with in the courts. "And who is it that just became a big toad in the puddle?" he asked.
She looked up at him with a smile. "Me!"
"What?!" Kai sat up and planted his feet firmly on the deck of the porch, stopping the movement of the swing.
Sam chuckled at his reaction. "I guess she was trying to make up for Morro taking all I had, by giving me all she had."
Kai let out a low whistle as he ran his fingers through his spiky brown hair. "Well, I reckon this saves us the bother of going to court to get your money back."
He paused, then continued. "And on top of getting your own money back, you get all of Morro's, too! It's only right, after what that varmint did." He kissed the top of her head and settled back into the porch swing, resuming the rocking.
"Mmm-hmm," Sam agreed. "Now I guess I have to make some decisions about some things, like his properties," she said as she nestled under his arm again. "Like that log house in the Stone Mountains. And the saloon right here in Ninjago Town. I was thinking I could loan Rufus the money to buy it from me. Brooke and the other girls told me last week that he wished he had the money to buy it."
The Morro Saloon in Ninjago Town had been closed per the orders of Sheriff Lloyd on the day Sam and Kai were kidnapped, after Morro had evaded arrest on a separate charge. But this action had unfortunately left Rufus the bartender, the saloon girls, and Lou the piano player without jobs for nigh on a month now. One saloon girl had already left town, looking for another job. If the saloon didn't reopen soon, or another entrepreneur did not come forward to open a new establishment, they all would have to leave town or else find jobs in a different line of work.
"I have to decide about his horse, too," Sam added. "I'd rather not keep it. Too many bad memories."
Sam's worst memory while sitting atop Morro's coal black gelding was when Morro galloped away with her, her hands bound, after the villain had shot Kai in the foot and left him stranded in the hot desert to die. Fortunately, the posse had found the cowboy just before sunset.
"It'll be easy to find a buyer for that horse," Kai said. "On Sunday, Rusty told me that his boss over at the Double S Ranch was looking to add a gelding to his stable."
"Then I can use the proceeds to buy a horse of my own choosing. One that would be patient with a greenhorn rider like me," Sam chuckled.
"Don't worry - you'll be an expert horsewoman in no time at all!" Kai assured her, squeezing her shoulders. "And I'll help you find a good animal. But besides the horse and the saloon, have you thought about what else you want to do with the money?"
As far as Kai was concerned, the money was Sam's alone, and he wasn't going to tell her what to do with it. He knew she would make wise decisions that would in turn benefit her, him, and their future family. But he was planning to be the main provider for their family, based on the income from his employment as a rancher for a great boss, a job in which he could spend his days in the fresh air under the wide open sky. Several weeks ago, he had already spent time contemplating what it would be like to have a wealthy wife. It was when he and Sam had just been kidnapped by Morro, Bansha, and Archer, and they were being taken on the long ride to Skeleton Territory.
Sam knew that when Kai had asked what she would do with the money, he was just curious. She knew he was not planning to use it to live on, and she wasn't planning to use it to live on, either. She was planning to live a simple life as a rancher's wife. She would have stayed back in the eastern United States if she wanted to live like high-falutin' folks.
Sam did, however, want to use her daddy's hard-earned money to honor his memory and benefit the community.
She sighed. "Well, I was thinking of possibly starting a charitable foundation and establish something in Daddy's name. Ninjago Town's a fine community, but we could use things like a hospital and a library."
"True," Kai agreed. "Those sound like good ideas."
Then he thought of another question. "Who else knows that you inherited all this wealth?"
"Just a few people," Sam answered. "Mr. Wu knows because he's the executor of her will. And so does the lawyer who drafted the will. And me. And now you. And I guess the bank president will, too, when I set up an account for Mr. Wu to deposit the money in."
"How many more people do you want to know?"
"I'd rather nobody know. I know there are good people in Ninjago Town who wouldn't care one way or the other, but I don't want people to treat me differently, either better or worse, because of the money. I'm already a little nervous because Mr. Wu said not to be surprised if a newspaper reporter finds out."
"But, Sam, if you donate big money to a hospital and it's named after your daddy, people are going to know you're wealthy. If you loan money to Rufus to buy the saloon, he's gonna know you're wealthy."
Sam was silent. Kai had made a very good point.
Kai didn't mean to cast a pall on her ideas, so he made a suggestion. "Maybe you could give money to Mr. Wu so he could buy the saloon, then he could be the one to loan money to Rufus and pay you back with what Rufus pays him. So Mr. Wu would just be a sort of a middle man."
He continued. "Also, maybe you could anonymously donate money toward a hospital first, and it could be called a simple name like Ninjago Town General Hospital. Then in a year or two, you could donate money toward a library and it could be called the Cyrus Borg Memorial Library, or whatever you had in mind. By then, people in town will have gotten to know you as a person, so when they do find out you had wealth for all the time they knew you, and you still acted like an average person, the wealth part won't matter."
"I could do that," Sam said slowly, warming up to Kai's ideas.
At the same time, the thought crossed Kai's mind that maybe building their home in such a secluded part of Garmadon Ranch wasn't such a good idea. While he was out tending to the ranch cattle, Sam was going to be here at the cottage by herself for a majority of daylight hours, when she wasn't in town taking care of errands or at the main house taking homemaking lessons from Miss Gayle.
What if some dirty varmint found out where she lived and decided to go after her in order to get his hands on her fortune? Morro had already tried, with success, to go after it. Heck, what if some dirty varmint decided to go after her regardless of the fortune? If Sam needed help, the nearest person she could turn to would be Nya, but Nya and Jay's cottage was two miles away. The main house was four miles away.
Kai then mentally slapped himself for thinking such negative thoughts at a time of celebration in his life. He shook his head to clear his mind and think more logically. It was unlikely anything bad would happen. But there were a few precautions they could take.
He decided it would be a good idea for the couple to get a dog. A pet would keep Sam company as well as offer protection if something sinister came up.
Kai would also make sure Sam knew how to ride a horse. He had already given her a few lessons on the trail back to Ninjago Town from Skeleton Territory, so he would just continue to instruct her.
Finally, he would teach Sam how to use a gun, just in case a situation arose. He was well aware that Bansha had owned a gun - the old woman had pointed it at him on the day of the kidnapping after she shot Sheriff Lloyd's hat right off his head. Now that Bansha had died, the gun belonged to Sam. It was probably somewhere in the main house of the ranch. People knew that Bansha had a soft spot in her heart for Sam, so no one would think twice if Sam took ownership of her gun.
Kai decided to suggest to Jay that Jay also get a dog for Nya and teach her to shoot a gun. Nya already knew how to ride a horse.
"You all right, Kai?" Sam asked, interrupting his thoughts. She had noticed he was quiet.
Kai decided he needed a distraction after the seriousness of their discussion. He rose out of the porch swing and then gently pulled Sam up to a standing position. "Let's celebrate Bansha's blessing! And I know one way to do that..."
From the mischievous sparkle in his brown eyes, Sam immediately knew what he had in mind.
"Kai!" she laughingly protested, letting out a squeal as he scooped her up, bridal-style. He did this carefully, due to her back injuries.
Kai carried Sam back into the cottage. "Why not?" he asked, grinning that adorable lopsided grin of his. "It's almost time to turn in for the night anyway."
One tender kiss from him on her lips, and she offered no more protest.
